Chapter 199: Jingzhao Demon-Banishing Prison, Spiritual Path

In front of the statue was a small stone platform.

On it was a stone book. Wang Yu approached with a hint of expectation, only to find it was blank. There were faint impressions of characters on it, but they had all disappeared.

He could only vaguely make out four or five character imprints. Moreover, these were ancient characters imbued with mysterious power, which he couldn't decipher.

"So that's it, this must be what Jin Miaoshan took..."

After weighing the stone book in his hand and finding nothing unusual, Wang Yu tucked it into his bosom.

His True Essence and spiritual sense were sealed, and his qi and blood couldn't activate his storage bag, so he couldn't open it. He could only carry it with him for now.

He circled the statue, found nothing, then tried to move it with all his physical might. Finding he couldn't budge it even slightly, he shrugged and left.

There were still three passages, three directions to explore, so there was no need to waste more time here.

However.

He also had a question: if Jin Miaoshan had obtained the inheritance here, why was there no pit leading directly to the surface?

Just like the deep pit he had seen when passing by the killing field on his way here, which was the mark left by the pillar of inheritance light.

"Unless they are not on the same spatial plane?"

This speculation led Wang Yu to recall the intelligence about the Eastern Imperial City's Prince's Mansion provided by Jin Manlou. While a prince's mansion could theoretically cover half the city, in reality, it was just a small courtyard of about 500 mu.

Therefore, there might be expanded spaces or hidden deep realms like secret territories. This speculation was more in line with the common knowledge of this world.

The Jingzhao Town Evil Prison might also be one of these: a semi-open, expanded spatial structure.

He had found traces of Asuras, but what about Rakshasas?

The secrets of this ancient pair of adversaries were truly fascinating. Pursuing the shadows of antiquity would help Wang Yu understand the truth of this world.

This urge to seek and explore came from his memories of his previous life, or rather, from a deep sense of insecurity.

All over the two realms, various ancient demons were buried and sealed!

Life, Desire, Blood, Slaughter... these were already four types, plus the natural dangers of the Endless Ice Plains and the abyssal beast ocean surrounding the Chaotic Ancient Sea.

Despite its immensity, the two realms seemingly only contained Taihu and Chiyuan.

The extinct Buddhist and Daoist paths, the lost antiquity, the fallen immortal dynasties of ancient times, and legends of lower-realm immortals... and so on.

All of this made this world seem like a land of exile, adrift from the rest of the universe, like a cage. With ancient demons everywhere, it was as if deeply buried nuclear bombs lay scattered across the land.

They could explode at any moment.

This sense of crisis made someone like Wang Yu, who had lived in a safe society in his previous life, develop a strong sense of urgency and a relentless pursuit of survival.

This might be why, after becoming a Spirit Slave, he constantly sought opportunities and fundamentally risked everything for change.

His personality, compared to before, had long undergone a profound transformation.

At some point, he developed a strong desire to explore the secrets of history, a desire born from that hidden sense of unease.

Of course.

It was still too early to talk about these things; he needed power more to ensure his current survival.

After exiting the eastern passage, Wang Yu entered the northern one. The restrictions here showed the second-highest degree of wear, having almost completely lost their power to counteract intruders.

After traversing an identical long corridor, the northern passage ended in a torture chamber filled with the stench of decay. It contained even more torture instruments used by the ancient immortal dynasty to torment prisoners.

Wang Yu approached a tightly fitted stool. In the center of its seat was a dark, ash-colored spike, at least five feet long. If someone were to sit on it...

"Tsk—"

Just thinking about it made him shudder.

He touched the edge of a torture instrument, and with a gentle squeeze, it crumbled completely into powder. The destructive power of time far exceeded imagination; if these were exposed on the surface, they would likely soon rot completely into dust.

Appreciating the ingenious designs of their predecessors, he toured the area.

Wang Yu still found nothing of value, but he did discover a base stand meant for swords and blades. This object carried a hidden murderous intent, though the items it once held had already been taken.

However, the base stand itself was not to be underestimated. Wang Yu took it as his haul from this exploration.

He felt as if he was just scavenging scraps.

After exiting the passage, he headed to the western one. Although many restrictions here were also damaged, a considerable number still retained their integrity.

However, their power had significantly declined compared to when they were first set up.

After Wang Yu entered.

He deliberately triggered a broken restriction rune, and immediately, a blood-red sword qi, about the length of his pinky finger, shot out from behind him.

"Whump—"

It seemed to hit a stubborn rock, giving Wang Yu no trouble beyond a slight tickle. Its intensity was only at the early Qi Condensation stage... unbelievably weak.

The predecessors had already cleared the way for him; what remained wouldn't even threaten him, nor could it stop ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators from progressing.

At the end of the western passage was a storeroom.

It was completely clean, thoroughly emptied, and the floor was covered in chaotic footprints.

It seemed more than one group of people had been here. Without gaining any spoils, Wang Yu wasn't disheartened. There was still the last southern passage, which, according to his observation,

the restrictions preserved in this southern passage were extremely complete, as if no one had ever set foot there. As he approached the entrance, he heightened his vigilance.

This might be a place Jin Miaoshan and her group hadn't had time to explore.

Wang Yu took a step forward.

The entire passage seemed enveloped in bloody malevolence and killing intent. An extremely dense crimson mist blocked the way ahead, and Wang Yu's expression stiffened.

He then withdrew his left foot.

At that very instant, the surging, terrifying blood mist seemed like an illusion, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye. "An illusion? A spiritual barrier..." he mused.

He had a rough grasp of the restriction's type. No wonder no one had broken it.

Due to the southern passage's integrity, it was difficult to observe the full pattern of the restrictions from the outside. Attempting to break them from a distance would likely fail, leading to unknown consequences.

But stepping inside would pull one into a spiritual illusion, making it impossible to see the restriction patterns at all. One would have to break through the illusion to get a complete view.

But if the illusion was already broken, what difference would the restrictions make? It would be better to leave them there to obstruct those who came later.

This might be why the southern passage remained undamaged to this day.

After a moment of contemplation.

Wang Yu still decided to venture in. After all, from his perspective, he hadn't seen any skeletons inside yet, making the lethality relatively low.

This time, he fully stepped into the passage.

When the bloody red mist assailed him, Wang Yu made no attempt to evade, allowing himself to be engulfed. Immediately, the world shifted, and Wang Yu found himself in this spiritual illusion.

It was a city of iron and blood, filled with an atmosphere of grim austerity. There were no civilians on the streets, only armored soldiers carrying halberds.

And he... was still a prisoner!

But he wasn't alone. He was currently standing among a long line of prisoners, flanked by soldiers glaring ferociously at them,

practically trapping them.

The line of prisoners was constantly moving forward, and Wang Yu curiously observed everything around him.

This spiritual illusion felt completely real.

He could feel the wind, smell the reek from the prisoners, and as his tongue licked his lips, he tasted a rusty flavor from the bloodstains.

It was completely different from illusions like the Taiyin Nether Eyes, which manipulated emotions. Or rather, their underlying principles were different, like two distinct paths within the Way of Illusion.

"No—"

Wang Yu murmured to himself.

"These are two different paths, different derivations after gaining illusion power... for instance: the mind!"

The Way of the Mind.

It was exceptionally rare in this world's inheritances, and also the only mysterious power that could be cultivated without relying on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

It not only demanded high innate talent (not spiritual roots) but also had requirements for one's species; for example, only sentient beings with a sense of self could learn it.

The mind could bring about a powerful will; similarly, a strong will could also foster an unyielding mind. The two were two sides of the same coin, difficult to distinguish.

It was very similar to the relationship between the soul and spiritual sense.

The Dao Heart, often spoken of by cultivators, was also a part of the mind, but while the Dao Heart could only influence oneself, the Way of the Mind, when cultivated to a certain realm, could influence reality and others.

It could even conjure miraculous powers, turning the impossible into possible.

All of this was knowledge Wang Yu had gained from extensive reading, as his 'placement panel' had a remarkably strong memory for pure knowledge.

Wang Yu didn't need to fully comprehend it; simply memorizing was enough.

Especially in the Scripture Hall of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect, he had read almost a quarter of its collection in his search for clues about demonic secret arts that could enhance talent.

That was a collection from a sect with a ten-thousand-year history.

The sheer volume of historical anecdotes alone had benefited Wang Yu greatly. Now, facing a spiritual illusion, he had recognized it immediately.

Considering the location.

Wang Yu subconsciously deduced that the so-called "Asura Slaughter Saint Scripture" was likely a supreme tome directly related to the Mind Power of the Soul Transformation stage.

Its rarity and preciousness skyrocketed. It was highly probable that it was the only one of its kind in this world.

Like cultivation methods focused purely on body refinement or soul cultivation, it could be cultivated concurrently without affecting the progress of one's fundamental cultivation methods, and could even provide significant assistance.

This might be why Jin Miaoshan cultivated the "Asura Slaughter Saint Scripture"; even within Jin Manlou, there was no mind cultivation technique of such a high grade.

"A massive stroke of fortune... but if one can't grasp it, even possessing it would lead to disaster, or one might not even have the qualifications to cultivate it."

Wang Yu sighed with emotion.

The "Ancient Soul Art" he practiced represented Spirit, the "Nether Dragon Devil Art" represented Essence, and the "Heavenly Cold Yin Blood Art" represented Qi.

Seemingly disorganized, they all served a single goal:

Forming the Golden Core!

The challenge of Essence, Qi, and Spirit faced at this stage was even greater than during Foundation Establishment, and even harder to achieve.

Therefore, if Wang Yu could acquire a third-tier spiritual sense and a third-tier physique in advance, his path to breakthrough would be smooth, without any problems.

Even without a Golden Core spiritual item, given enough time,

polishing for one or two hundred years, his True Essence might very well transform into magic power, helping him truly overcome this chasm-like difficulty.

The Way of the Mind was not in his plans.

Even if he obtained the "Asura Slaughter Saint Scripture," he couldn't cultivate it anytime soon. Firstly, his 'placement panel' slots were insufficient, and secondly, mind cultivation techniques could easily distort one's personality,

leading to obsession or complete derangement.

Jin Miaoshan was currently in this stage. If she couldn't withstand the erosion of killing intent, her best outcome would be to become a demon controlled by slaughter.

If she were unluckier, it was estimated that she would barely be able to preserve her consciousness, completely transforming into—a Slaughter Slave!

Having sorted out his thoughts.

Wang Yu's attention returned to the illusion itself.